Insider Selling: Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) EVP Sells $45,037.08 in Stock

Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) EVP Bala Sathyanarayanan sold 748 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.21, for a total transaction of $45,037.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,970,613.09. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Greif Price Performance

Greif stock opened at $57.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.04. Greif, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.95 and a 12 month high of $73.16. The company has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.95.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.23). Greif had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 4.81%. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Greif, Inc. will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Greif Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Greif’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GEF. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Greif by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 372,040 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,381,000 after acquiring an additional 53,110 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Greif during the 3rd quarter valued at $518,000. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Greif by 97.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 34,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,133,000 after purchasing an additional 16,759 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its holdings in Greif by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 262,058 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,061,000 after buying an additional 28,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Greif by 9.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 524,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,874,000 after buying an additional 44,473 shares during the period. 45.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Greif from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Sidoti began coverage on Greif in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $93.00 price target for the company. Bank of America cut their price objective on Greif from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Greif from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.33.

About Greif

Greif, Inc engages in the production and sale of industrial packaging products and services worldwide. The company operates through Global Industrial Packaging; Paper Packaging & Services; and Land Management segments. The Global Industrial Packaging segment produces and sells industrial packaging products, including steel, fiber, and plastic drums; rigid and flexible intermediate bulk containers; closure systems for industrial packaging products; transit protection products; water bottles, and remanufactured and reconditioned industrial containers; and various services, such as container life cycle management, filling, logistics, warehousing, and other packaging services to chemicals, paints and pigments, food and beverage, petroleum, industrial coatings, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, mineral product, and other industries.